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Hey! Our names are Astrid and Runar and we have had an internship at Link Development for 10 weeks. Usually we take a master's degree in innovation and management at Høgskulen in Western Norway, but here we have had a chance to try out working as project coordinators. We thought we could tell you a little bit about that here!
Internship is one of the main reasons why I, Astrid, chose the study I did, and I have been really looking forward to this semester! Great to get some resume filling while I'm taking my master's degree! I had a lot of expectations for my internship. I was excited about whether this is an industry I thrive in and if I would be able to cope with the tasks I was given.
Like Astrid, I, Runar, chose to study a lot because of the references and work experience that I get from my stay here. As a fairly recent fellow in the world of work, I had no specific expectations for the internship other than that I would bring useful learning and experience further into my life.
In our first week at Link Development, we felt a lot of responsibility and were quickly incorporated as “normal” team members. Of course, this made us feel part of the gang and took ownership of the tasks we performed. We quickly realized that this industry is in full swing, there is always something new going on and you have to keep up with the changes.
What have we really been doing for 10 weeks?
Here at Link Development, as mentioned earlier, we have been honored to be project coordinators for the innovation project Kulturjakten. It has included everything from market analysis, marketing, graphic design, application writing and business development. What a journey it has been!
We have been able to try new things, while at the same time we have been allowed to find out what we are good at and what we are not very good at. CEO Hana has involved us in several exciting processes and it has been really fun to see that we have actually gained use of the lessons we have learned at school.
Lessons from the internship
We have tried a lot of different things here at Link Development! It has been exciting to work creatively and freely within the tasks. The process in the company has meant that we have become well acquainted with the world of work in a short time, we have learned a lot about how interactions between us as a company and a customer, other companies, interest organizations or funds work. This is knowledge we could never have learned through study.
As a result of the fact that I, Astrid, have been given the tasks, challenges and opportunities that I have been given here is that my confidence in mastery and self-esteem in working life has increased. Besides, I've become insanely good at writing applications and other official documents. In many ways Link Development has facilitated me to use my strengths and develop the areas in which I was not as strong. Before I started in practice, I considered myself a bit technically limited, but after 10 weeks in tech company the situation is completely different. I have not worked with the technical stuff, but because the company is so small that all departments work together, I have received so much input that I understand a lot more. Now it even happens that I am asked my opinion on the technical, which was completely unthinkable ten weeks ago!
After 10 nice weeks here at Link Development, I, Runar, am back with a lot of positive experiences. I have been challenged in many areas that I was not comfortable doing before, which has increased my sense of mastery and confidence. I have learned that one must look at tasks as an opportunity to learn instead of difficult challenges where I am doomed to fail. It has also been very exciting to experience what the cohesion and work culture is like in a small start-up company. Here I think a lot of big businesses have a lot to learn.
Thank you very much, Link Development! What a great internship, great work environment and a steep learning curve!
